The top 10 apps for toddlers

Are you a little app-crazy? Do you download apps to keep yourself entertained? What about keeping the kids busy ?  The Guardian website published this list of the most educational and educating apps for toddlers- they are brilliant – check them out..

1. Talking Tom Cat
iPhone, iPad, free, Android, $0.99
When kids talk to Tom he’ll repeat whatever they say, albeit in a slightly more silly-sounding voice. If they ignore him he’ll yawn nonchalantly at them, which may prompt them to pull his tail or poke him in the head, belly or feet.

2. My Very First App
iPhone, iPad, $2.49
Based on the beautiful artwork of Eric Carle (of The Very Hungry Caterpillar fame) My Very First App has three levels of difficulty. Easy involves matching colours to objects of the same colour, medium is a memory game where kids turn over cards to pair colours, and hard combines the two, with a memory game where colours must match the objects.

3. Wheels on the Bus
iPhone, iPad, $1.19, Android, $0.99
Though more of a freestyle interpretation than true representation of the nursery rhyme from which it takes its name, the Wheels on the Bus is nonetheless a superbly animated and highly interactive app. From spinning the wheels to swishing the wipers, there is plenty for children to poke and slide and they’ll love the music, almost as much as you’ll hate it.

4. Make me a Superhero
iPhone, iPad, $1.19, Android, $0.99
Unlike its sister app, Make me a Princess (the digital equivalent of dressing up a Barbie doll), this app empowers little boys and girls by letting them dream up their own superhero. They get to choose the weapon, costume and skin colour of their valiant alter-ego and ask themselves a question most of us will have pondered at some point, “Cape or wings?”

5. Cut the Rope
iPhone, iPad, $1.19
Cut the rope to feed the cute onomatopoeically-named monster, OmNom, in this highly addictive, best-selling puzzle game. Its bright cartoon-style graphics will appeal to toddlers, but its intense playability will hook their parents in too, whether they like it or not. It may even give your kids a subliminal physics lesson along the way.

6. The Cat in the Hat – Dr Seuss
iPhone, iPad, $4.99, Android, $3.99
Featuring all the original drawings and text from the classic book, plus zoom capabilities, background sound effects and a choice of “read it myself” or “read to me” settings. With the latter, words are highlighted to match the narrator thereby increasing word recognition. And unlike the board book it fits inconspicuously in your handbag.

7. FirstWords: Animals
iPhone, iPad, $2.49, Android, free
This simple app helps kids learn to spell by encouraging them to drag letters to form the word shown in the picture, be that CAT, CAKE, KEYS … you get the picture. As each letter fits into place, a narrator (with a mild American twang) says it out loud and when the word is complete he says that too.

8. Elmo’s Monster Maker
iPhone, iPad, $4.99
Elmo talks kids through designing their own Muppet monster. There are four body types with multiple hat/eye/nose/mouth combos on offer. They can then watch their monster dance, and make him laugh by tickling under his arms. Or, if they’re more impishly-inclined, they can make him fall down by tapping him in the head. Again and again, until your battery runs out.

9. Nursery Jam
iPhone, iPad, free
This slightly trippy music-making app offers a choice of idyllic natural backdrops, each of which has its own music theme, from jazz and funk to breakbeat. The child then taps the screen and different objects, such as flowers and leaves, will appear with different sound effects, including a hi-hat to a conga drum. Let the chaotic composition begin.

10. Spot Goes to School
iPad, $5.99
Every toddler’s favourite big yellow dog marked his recent thirtieth birthday by going digital with an interactive take on his Spot Goes to School book. Instead of actually lifting the flaps, children touch the screen to reveal a hidden picture below. They can also hone those much-needed tidying skills at the Nature Table, having shaken the iPad to mess it up first.

Which apps are you loving at the moment?